Abstract

Asegedech Woldemariam

Summary Tax Structure Tables, 1975–92

Asegedech Woldemariam

The attached tables contain cross-country statistical information on tax revenues for IMF member countries for which data are available. The data, which cover 1975—92, are organized by major regional groupings.1

The main sources of the data are the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and International Financial Statistics (IFS) in the IMF Data Fund. Since there are no data available in the same sources for the former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, data from the Economic Reviews of the FSU countries and from the recent IFS supplement on these countries have been used.

To maintain consistency of measurement and to allow cross-country comparisons between tax structures, the tables show consolidated central government revenue for most of the countries; however, budgetary central government revenue was used for countries for which the former was not available. The central government, as defined in A Manual of Government Finance Statistics, includes “all governmental departments, offices, establishments, and other bodies which are agencies or instruments of the central authority of a country. Also included within central government are departmental enterprises attached thereto, relevant nonprofit organizations, and the geographical extensions of central government authority which may operate at the regional or local level without the attributes necessary for existence as a separate government.” These units may be either budgetary, which means they are covered by the budget of the central government, or extrabudgetary, which means that they have their own budget and account.

The definitions of the various taxes in the tables are the same as those in the GFS manual.2

To facilitate comparisons, the information on revenues and their components is presented in the form of ratios. These ratios are calculated as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and as a percent of total tax revenue. GDP data are taken directly from the IFS for most country groupings or from the Economic Reviews and the recent IFS supplement for FSU countries. Further, average figures refer to unweighted averages.

To even out annual fluctuations, the figures are averaged over 1975–80, 1981–85, and 1986–92. In some cases, however, data problems still remain. In cases where data are missing for some countries, figures in the tables show averages for the periods for which data are available. The specific years covered for every country are indicated in the column entitled “Sample Size.”3

Moreover, for particular categories of taxes—in-come, consumption, and international taxes—the total collection as well as selected subcomponents are shown. The subcomponents that are presented in the tables are not exhaustive. Consequently, the sum of the subcomponents may be lower than the total. Thus, for instance, while The Bahamas shows a positive amount for “domestic taxes on goods and services” (Tables 25-30), the subcomponents “general sales, turnover, or VAT” and “excises” are both zero or almost zero. This is because most of the revenue from domestic consumption taxes is derived in the form of “taxes on specific services” (e.g., casino tax) and “taxes on use of goods or on permission to use goods or to perform activities” (e.g., motor vehicle taxes) which constitute subcategories not shown in the table. In some cases, because the data have been rounded to the nearest decimal point, the sum of the subcomponents may be greater than the total. For example, this is the case for “international trade taxes” for Austria in Table 4 and for Brazil in Table 29. Also, a figure of zero may reflect rounding of small amounts.

A further cause of divergence between an aggregate category and its subcomponents is the existence of unallocated revenue. In some instances, a substantial fraction of the revenue pertaining to a given category (e.g., “taxes on income, profits, and capital gains”) is reported as “unallocated” in the original sources, rather than classified in the corresponding subcategories (e.g., “individual” or “corporate”). In these cases, to maintain consistency and preserve potentially valuable information, the classification based on the original sources is retained. This, for example, is the case of Panama in Table 27.

The tables are classified as follows:

Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union countries:

Table 1.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1975–801

(In percent of GDP)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

Table 2.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1975–801

(In percent of total tax revenue)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

Table 3.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1981–851

(In percent of GDP)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

The sample period for “total revenue” is 1981–84; for all others, it is 1981 −85.

Table 4.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1981–851

(In percent of total tax revenue)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

The sample period for “total revenue” is 1981–84; for all others, it is 1981 −85.

Table 5.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1986–921

(In percent of GDP)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

Table 6.

OECD Countries: Tax Structure, 1986–921

(In percent of total tax revenue)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; and International Financial Statistics.

Mexico joined the OECD in May 1994. Nevertheless, since Mexico was not a member of the OECD during the sample period covered, it is included in the group of non-OECD Western Hemisphere countries.

Table 7.

African Countries: Tax Structure, 1975–80

(In percent of GDP)

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Sources: IMF, Government Finance Statistics; International Financial Statistics; and The World Bank, World Tables 1993.

Total revenue includes revenues collected for state and local governments.